worth the risk • dean portman

chapter twenty three

morgan

Another day without hearing from Dean.

It's been four days since I've last seen him, and it's honestly making me nervous. The last time I saw him was Saturday night at Drew's party, and I've heard nothing since.

I know how annoyed he was by Jake flirting with me at the party, but I never expected it to get him so annoyed that he just disappears without a word. There are only a couple of different possibilities on where he could've gone, and I've narrowed it down to two places.

He either went back to Chicago, or he's just been hiding out at Fulton's.

Honestly, I can't see him going back home. I know his family is there, but it makes no sense with all that he has going on right now. And also, Jake will definitely use him going home in a time of uncertainty as yet another reason to show my dad how much "better" he is for me than Dean.

No, I'm being ridiculous. He's definitely just hiding out at Fulton's and has been refusing to come to school for the past three days. That would make the most sense to me, because Dean isn't the type of person who runs away from his problems. At least I think he isn't.

The only way I'm going to figure this out is by asking, so that's exactly what I decide to do. My first order of business is to ask Fulton, and the hockey table is exactly where I march myself during lunch. He turns around to face me when I tap him on the shoulder, and I notice a worried expression flash across his face for a split second.

"Hey Morgan, what's up?" he asks, acting a little too innocently for my liking.

I smile sweetly and cross my arms. "Not much, actually. I'm just wondering if you know where my boyfriend is, because I haven't heard from him in four days. I know you know where he is, and I'd like to know please."

Fulton bursts out laughing, which honestly makes me annoyed. When he's finally able to catch his breath and recollect himself, I cut him off before he can speak. "I don't know why you think this is so funny, because I know you would definitely be somewhat worried if Faith disappeared without a word. And if I knew where she was, don't you think it would be rude if I didn't tell you and just kept it to myself? Because that's essentially what you're doing right now."

When the smile disappears from his face and is replaced with wide eyes, I know I've hit my mark. I may not be nice all the time like Sadie or unapologetically confrontational like Ella, but I can be extremely blunt and rude when I feel disrespected. And right now, disrespected is an understatement to what I'm feeling.

I raise an eyebrow at Fulton, while the entire hockey team silently watches on. After he realizes that I'm not in the mood for his jokes, he finally speaks. "Morgan, I don't know where he is."

"That's fine." I respond with a shrug. "I'll just come to your place later and see for myself."

"Hold on now, wait a minute. You can't do that." Fulton says, backpedaling quickly.

"Well, why not?" I ask casually, except for the fact that I feel my nerves starting to rise. "That's where he is... right?"

Fulton immediately averts his gaze from mine, and everyone else does when I look at them too. My stomach drops, because he must be lying. There's absolutely no way Dean went home, right? I thought him going home was just me overthinking and being ridiculous, but I guess not.

After another minute of awkwardly standing in silence, I finally force myself to meet Fulton's eyes. "He went back home, didn't he?"

In the same hushed voice as me, he gives me the answer I was hoping he wouldn't. "Yes."

My eyes start to fill with tears, and I have to clear my throat so that I can speak without showing too much of my emotion. "When did he leave?"

"Early Sunday afternoon." he whispers. "I'm really sorry Morgan, I should've told you."

"Yeah, you really should have." I snap, turning around and walking away before he can say anything else.

I feel absolutely nothing as I walk back over to my lunch table and sit back down. I guess my face gave something away, because Ella puts her fork down next to her salad bowl and eyes me weirdly. "Everything okay?"

"Dean's in Chicago." I mumble quietly, staring down at my lunch that suddenly isn't looking very appetizing.

"He's where?" she yells out, causing multiple people to turn around and stare at her. "What the hell do you mean he's in Chicago?"

My eyes start to water again, but I don't stop the tears from falling out this time. "I mean he's in Chicago. He's been there since Sunday."

"Sunday?" she yells again, bringing more attention to ourselves. I love Ella to death, but this girl is too dramatic for her own good.

She's two seconds away from literally exploding when Adam comes up behind her and places a hand on her shoulder. "Has anyone ever told you that you're really loud?"

Ella rolls her eyes and turns to look at him. "Not the time Banks."

"Oh, we're last naming now?" Adam asks with a laugh, which draws the attention of at least half the dining hall. "Well fine, Walker. I just came over here to tell you that you're very loud."

He walks away, bringing Ella's attention back to me. "So, what are we going to do about this?"

I shrug and give her the best smile I can. "Nothing, actually. That's what I'm going to do, so I'm asking you to do the same. It's not like I can just go and bring him back."

"It's always worth a shot." Sadie suggests, offering a small smile. "He can't stay away from you forever. Besides, he'll come home soon enough and everything will be fixed. I promise you Morgan, everything will work out. It always does."

**a/n**
okay hi i'm sorry this chapter literally sucks but i have been staring at it for three days and this is the best i've got for it. i promise it'll get better soon. love you all thank you for the support you've shown me! bye for now!
-c